Cat saves Moe South family

A Moe South couple have their cat to thank for saving their lives after it alerted them to a fire in their house overnight (15 July).

CFA was called to the incident in Daphne Drive just after 2.30am. The fire was controlled within 30 minutes and only a wall and small section of the roof space was damaged.

CFA District 9 Operations Officer Ian Pattie conducted the fire investigation this morning and found a crack at the rear of the firebox was the cause.

“Enclosed wood fire places are generally very safe but this is a timely reminder that people need to maintain any type of heating system regularly,” he said.

“In this case, the couple were lucky their cat woke them, otherwise I could’ve been investigating a far more devastating scene.”

Mr Pattie said the house had smoke alarms positioned in the correct locations but the design of the lounge area meant the room would have been almost fully involved in fire before the smoke alarm would’ve gone off.

The male occupant of the house, believed to be in his 40’s, was taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation.